Appellant Patti Thornton hereinafter “appellant”1 was charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, making false statements, and tampering with evidence; her co-defendant, Walter Booth, was charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and making false statements. A jury found appellant not guilty of murder but guilty of the remaining charges, and the same jury acquitted Booth of murder and conspiracy to commit murder but found him guilty of making false statements. Appellant now appeals from the denial of her motion for new trial, arguing that the trial court should have vacated her conviction for conspiracy because the jury’s verdict finding her guilty is inconsistent with its verdict acquitting Booth, her only alleged co-conspirator; the evidence is insufficient to support her convictions for conspiracy and tampering with evidence; and her trial counsel was ineffective. As more fully set forth below, we find no basis for reversal and affirm.
Construed to support the jury’s verdict,2 the evidence shows that sometime in the spring or summer of 2007, appellant, who was married to the victim, Richard “Shell” Thornton III, began having an illicit relationship with her co-worker Booth, who was also married.3 Witnesses testified that Booth was protective and jealous of appellant at work, made statements that Shell mistreated appellant, and told co-workers that he would kill anyone who “messed with” appellant. On one occasion, appellant asked a co-worker to deliver a note to Booth that said “I love you,” and she sent Booth numerous e-mails throughout the summer and into the winter of 2007, expressing her love for Booth and her desire to be with him. Appellant also frequently wrote of her hatred for her husband, his mistreatment of her, and her desperate desire to have him “gone for good” from her life, primarily so that she could spend more time with Booth. She regularly entreated Booth to help her “out of this hell-hole,” said she could not take it anymore and wanted it over with, and in November 2007, reminded Booth that he “promised it would be done before Thanksgiving.”
